As a child, I was a voracious reader. I remember reading by flashlight at night after I had been tucked into bed, furtively listening for the creak of the stairs that would signal a parent coming up to check that us kids were asleep. I swore by my family’s motto: Always Bring a Book. I brought books everywhere, reading any time I got a spare chance.
As I grew older, my reading habits changed. High school speech and debate led me towards reading academic journals, nonfiction works, news articles, and pieces by think tanks. I didn’t read less, per say, I just didn’t enjoy it in the same way I once did.
As a college student, my habits changed again. Now done with speech and debate, my reading was mostly assigned by professors. I was assigned readings from textbooks, and (truthfully) I skimmed them. With so much of my academic effort wrapped up in consuming educational materials, testing my mastery, and generating my own papers, essays, and discussion posts, reading was no longer fun.
When I closed my laptop on homework, I didn’t long to read something else, I wanted to listen to music, or watch sports, or finish a movie, or just sleep. Reading felt like a chore. I finished my undergraduate degree and jumped into my graduate program. Here, I wasn’t assigned as many textbooks, but I was overwhelmed by a flood of academic journals, cases studies, and business news.
But reading still felt like a chore. So, I just didn’t read.
Yeah, I’d finish the occasional non-fiction book, and my consumption of news articles and sports journalism didn’t decrease, but the habits of my childhood – reading in every free moment, finishing books in a single day, maxing out my library card – those were gone.
2025 was the tipping point. I finished a few books (physical and audiobooks), but was blown out of the water by a sibling in a reading competition. In 2026, we raised the stakes. No longer was it a one-on-one reading duel, this year, it’s an open reading brawl with my siblings, my wife, and I.
One month into 2026, I’ve finished three books (almost four, if Malcolm Gladwell would talk a little faster in the audiobook).
I didn’t want this to just be a resolution for 2026, I want this to mark a shift in my own habits, rituals, and pastimes. To power this pursuit, I’m trying three new things.
- Limit multi-task reading
- One of my reading habits, (possibly derived from studying for classes in different disciplines) is the practice of having multiple books in-progress at one time. While this allows me to read what I’m feeling like, it also contributes to decision fatigue when I choose to read, slows my progress across all of the books, and makes it all the more tempting to set my reading list aside and start a totally different book. As I step into the 2026 reading challenge, I’m committing to having two books in-progress at a time – one fiction, one non-fiction – with the emphasis on finishing the things I’m reading.
- Practice looking forward to reading
- The urge to read just one more page (or chapter, or book) was a hallmark of my early reading days. Through the busyness of school, other types of reading, and various other commitments, it became increasingly easy to think of reading as a task or chore. In this new year, my intention to practice looking forward to reading. By selecting books that are interesting to me, and setting aside intentional time over lunches, evenings, and weekends to read, I’m relearning the process of looking forward to picking up my book.
- Read a variety of styles
- Ever the debater, I fell into the trap in high school and college of holding up non-fiction as the standard for a “good book.” This one is taking some intentionality, but I am making a conscious effort to read in other styles beyond the academic, theory-based, non-fiction banner. I’ve set aside some historical fiction, fantasy, and poetry collections that I plan to read in 2026, remembering that I can find value in whatever I’m reading, whether the newest management book, a new historical fiction novel, a fantasy epic, or a collection of poetry. All truth is God’s truth, and the beauty of his creation, embodied in the creativity of authors, is to be found everywhere.
Here’s my ask to you: as I read my way through 2026, ask me what I’m reading. Make recommendations of things you’re enjoying reading. Challenge me to read something I wouldn’t typically pick up. Interrogate and question the things I’m reading, pushing me to think critically about these ideas.
As I read, I hope to continue processing this journey through my blog, sharing what I’m thinking about, my reactions, and how my habits of reading take shape.
A Profitable Read 